Wireless communication systems are widely used to provide voice and data services for multiple users using a variety of access terminals such as cellular telephones, laptop computers and various multimedia devices. Such communications systems can encompass local area networks, such as IEEE 801.11 networks, cellular telephone and/or mobile broadband networks. The communication system can use a one or more multiple access techniques, such as Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) and others. Mobile broadband networks can conform to a number of system types or partnerships such as, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), 3rd-Generation standards (3G), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Evolution-Data Optimized EV-DO, or Long Term Evolution (LTE).
In communication systems where several users share the same transmission medium, the possibility exists for different transmitters of a shared communication resource to interfere with each other. In cellular communication systems, where geographical division is used to separate users, the inter-cell interference is interference between transmitters in adjacent or neighboring cells.
OFDMA systems, such as LTE, can be deployed as frequency reuse-1 systems, in which all cells transmit over the same frequency spectrum. While such systems are spectrally efficient, the performance of user devices on the edge of a cell may suffer because of inter-cell interference from adjacent cells. The effect of inter-cell interference is especially acute in systems with small cells.